Freight-transportation means



July 3, 1928.

W. P. KELLETT FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION MEANS Filed Aug. 12, 1926 [n Mentor: Will/am P Ke//e//Z Patented July 3, 1928 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM PLATTS KELLETT, OF BRANTFORD, ONTARIO, CANADA.

' FREIGHT-TRANSPORTATION MEANS.

Application filed august 12, 1926. Serial No 128,846.

' way car.

A further object is to facilitate the disv tribution of goods and still further, to enhance' the features of rail transportation as against truck haulage over long d1stances.

The principal features of the invention consist in the novel arrangement of merchandise containers upon a railway car and in providingvmeans for absorbing the violent longitudinal shocks incident to' the handling of freight cars whereby the goods in the containers are preserved "from breakage.

is a side elevational view of a freight car showing the novel construction and arrangement of a plurality of merchandise containers held thereon.

Figure 2 is an enlarged plan view of one end of a flat car showing the arrangement of the spring buffers.

Figure 3 is a side elevational View of the end of the car showing the butter in a raised position. I

Figure tis an 'end elevation showing the buffers in a raised position and also showing the means for holding the containers in position transversely.

Figure 5 is an enlarged elevational detail of the means for securing the con-' tainers on the trucks illustrated in Figure 1.

It has been ascertained that in the han dling of package freight enormous losses by breakage are due to the shocks occasioned by the shunting and stopping and starting of trains; y

The principal factor in the cause of the damage through, shocks is the rigidity of the structure of the standard freight cars. Accordingto the present invention the freight is packed in containers which are mounted upon rollers and placed on a railway car and are allowed a certain freedom ofmovement under control of spring cushioned devices so that the shocks imparted to the car are absorbed by the spring cushioning devices to such an extent as to ensure the In the accompanymg drawings Figure 1 safety of the goods in the containers from damage from this cause.

In the form of the invention herein shown, the flat car 1 is provided with longitudinal trackways 2 of a suitable design and suitable flaring guides 3 are arranged [rollers being such that when the containers are moved from one car to another the end rollers will reach the trackways of the next succeeding car from which the container is being moved. The container is thus relieved -of injurious stress" and a smooth continuous movement is ensured inv the movement of the containers from car to car;

Each container is provided with a suitable type of spring bufl'er 6 at the ends, preferably arranged in pairs and these buffers are adapted to engage the adjacent; containers. Adjustable spring buffers 7 are arranged at the ends of the cars to engage and hold the containersin place upon the car.

Each container is provided with a flanged plate 8 extending longitudinally on each side having the flange 9 at the lower edge thereof extending parallel with and close to the deck of the can:

Longitudinally arranged guides 10 each having a horizontal slot 11 open at the ends are rigidlysecured to the deck of the car and are adapted to receive the flanges 9 of the plates 8. Said flanges are adapted to move freely longitudinally in the guides 10, which guides extend'substantially thefull length ofthe car but they-hold the container securely to the deck of the car preventing inches so that where there are three containlnch 1 tents of-the containers from injurious shock slack caused b containers or offers may be taken up to adapted to align with the spring buffers and an enormous saving in the damage to goods in transportation will be eifected.

It will be understood that the end buflj'ers must be arranged so that they may be moved out of the way so that the containers may be placed and removed with freedom and in the construction shown'these buffers are in the form of bracket members having tubular portions 12 slidably arranged on a rigid bar member 13 secured to a bracket 14. A tubular bracket 15 journals the putward 'end of the tubular portion of the buffer and a compression spring 16 is enclosed therein to receive the end shocks.

The brackets 14 and 15 are mounted in re cesses '17 below the deck surface so that the buffers may be swung downwardly and housed in the recesses to allow vthe containers to move over the samefreely.

The upper ends of the buffers are provided with jack screw bumper ends 18 which are 6 on the containers and by means 9f the threaded adjustment thus provided any variation in the length of ensure the containers being held from loose pl? endwise of the car.

or certain classes of package freight or parcel post the containers may be provided with different sized compartments to enable the more ready and safe handling of small packages or container trucks 19 which'are more ully described in my (20- nding application 221,084, filed Septem r 21, 1927 and illustrated in Figure 1 may be provided upon which are mounted smaller sized con tainers The containers 20 are preferably provided with rollers and they are so arranged that the containers may be moved invention must not tant phase, namely, that in* transversely of the; trucks.

Flanged holding plates 21 similar to the guides 10 are arranged on the top of the truck and engage'the flanges 22 on the containers 20 and these containers maybe held from lateral movement by locking pins 23 inserted through holes in the flanges and flange plates 22 and 21.

It will be readil understood that this" a F limited to the details of structure as many variations in. such may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

This invention has another very impor-p its application the expense of malntenance in rolling stock and locomotive equipment is very greatly reduced. The dead loadon the locomotive,

in the starting of a train, is very greatly relieved by providing longitudinal resiliency in the connections between the goods containers and the cars and the force expended in the initial movement and absorbed bly the springs immediately reacts to prope the load in the direction of movement and effectively assists the tractive effort of the locomotive. This condition ensures the starting of heavily loaded trains with ease and the structure of'the rolling stock Wlll be considerably relieved from stress.

What Iclaim as my invention is:

1. A freight )transportation means, comprising a railway car, separate containers inovably mounted on said car, and means movable longitudinally of said car engaging said containers and cushioned to absorb the longitudinal shocks imparted to the railway ca-r. f t

2. A freight transportation means, comprising a railway car, separate contamers movably' mounted on said car, compression bufl'ers arranged on the ends of said containers, and compression buffers arranged at the ends of vthe railway car to engage the ends of the end containers.

3. A freight transportation means, comprising a railway car, separate containers movably mounted on said ear, and spring 95 bufi'ers pivotally mounted at the ends of the railway car to be swung into or out of the path of movement of the containersand adapted to engage the containers to limit said buffers being arranged to be swung downwardly clear of the containers to allow their removal from thecar.

4. A freight transportation means, comprising a railway car, movably mountedon said car, rigid supports mounted on the ends of the car, bracket members pivotally and slidably ar-f ranged in said rigid supports,,and compres- Zieon springs engaging said slidable memno 5. A freight transportation means, com: prising a railway car, separate containens movabl mounted on said car, bracket members pivotally, and slidably supported at 115 the ends of the car, cushion springs engag-. ing said slidable members, and jack screws threaded invthe free ends of said pivotal members adapted to engage the containers.

'6. A freight transportation means, com- 120 prising a railway car, separate containers movably mounted on said car, recesses formed inthe deck of the car-at the ends, pivotal spring buffer members mounted in said recesses and adapted to be housed therein below the surface of the deck.- v

7. A freight transportation means, comprising a railway car havin longitudinal trackways, flanged guides rigidly secured'to their longitudinal movement on the car,

'the car and arranged parallel with Baidno separate containers 5 guide-Ways, and resilient means for absorbing longitudinal movement of said 00ntainers. x a

8. A freight transportation means, comprising a railway car having longitudinal 10 trackways, flanged guides rigidly secured to the car and arranged parallel with said trackways, separatecontainers having rollers engaging said trackways, flanged members extending longitudinally of said containers and slidably engaging in said flanged guide-ways, spring buffers arranged on the ends of said containers, and removable end buffers at the ends of the car adapted to hold said containers in engagement with said longitudinal guides.

WILLIAM PLATTS KELLETT. 

